Constellation/dots style conductive charging is a charging technology that relies on the contact between small metallic ball tips on a battery and charged metallic strips on a charger. Existing conductive charging technology has been implemented in cellphones, tablets, and consumer electronics, for example. Constellation/dot style conductive charging has not yet been commercially implemented on power tools due to a number of challenges. For example, conductive charging may not operate properly in a garage, outdoor, and construction site environment that power tools are subjected to because the contacts of the charging device may get dirty. If a ball tip were to get dirty, sufficient electrical contact may not be made between the two elements.
As another example, power tool batteries continue to increase in both voltage and capacity; however, conductive charging pads are typically set to be charged at low voltage to reduce the risk of user injury. With this low voltage pad surface requirement, the system is forced into a number of compromises. First, higher voltage/capacity batteries may require a higher voltage differential or amperage draw than the small ball tips are capable of conducting due to the limited contact area. Second, additional circuitry is typically needed within the battery pack for higher voltages to step up the voltage so that the battery can be charged.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.